Deadly Past
by firestorm2
Summary: Bit's painful past comes back to haunt him, along with the specter of his dead little brother. Please R+R!!
1. Beginning

Bit Cloud climbed to the top of the Blitz Team base and sat on the edge, swinging his legs. The sun was setting, painting the mesas and canyons with a filmy red light. The zoids were in the hangar below, turned off.  
  
Except for the Liger Zero. Liger never seemed to be turned off, he was always a nagging presence in the back of Bit's mind. His blonde hair was blown by the wind, but he sat still, like a statue. So far, in the three years he had fought for the Blitz Team, no one had found his spot.  
  
The sun hovered for a moment, like an orb of liquid fire, before it sank below the horizon. The stars popped out, into the dark sky. Bit sighed as he rested his chin in his hand. Liger Zero. Why had Liger chosen him, an untrained, untried junk dealer to pilot the Ultimate X?  
  
Bit grinned slightly at a memory. Whenever he talked to the Liger Zero and got messages from it, people stared at him like he was insane. The messages from the Liger weren't words; they were images of color and light, showing the massive zoid's emotions.  
  
The Liger was puzzled; why was he having these sad thoughts? He focused on that part of strength at the back of his mind that was Liger and sent the memory to the zoid.  
  
The rain pounded on the cement sidewalk as Bit ran, his worn tennis shoes slapping the pavement. He had to get there in time, he had to!  
  
A scrap of a faded jean jacket caught his eye. "AETHON!" he screamed. His younger brother, blonde hair plastered to his forehead with red blood, was sprawled there. Bit knelt and pulled his brother onto his lap, cradling his dying body.  
  
Athon's lips were moving faintly; Bit leaned down, listening desperately. "Bit." He whispered. "Sorry." Aethon rolled over and plunged off the bridge.  
  
Down, down, down into the roiling, wild night. A faint splash, a choked scream, a cry of death. The rain dripped down Bit's face, mingling with tears. Hot rage boiled in his blood. He threw his head back and howled, howled his rage and pain, sorrow and loss, into that strangled, desperate scream.  
  
Bit finished sending the memory and listened for Liger's reply. A warm blue- green wave rolled through his head; Liger was comforting him. Bit grinned. "Thanks, buddy."  
  
He stood and walked to the dark hatchway that led down into the hangar. Bit leaped into the hole, landing in a crouch on the floor. Jamie's voice echoed over the com-system. "BIIITT! DINNER!" Bit licked his lips, grinned, and bounded up to the rafters.  
  
He slithered into the venting and stopped at the grating, looking down into the dining room. Leena was chowing down, eating the food in great gulps. Bit quickly pulled a paperclip out of his pocket, bent the end, and began using it to unscrew the grating. (AN: This really works.)  
  
He pocketed the clip and screws, lifted the grating, and flipped his upper body out, hanging by his knees. Bit's gaze flicked to the other wall, the Blitz Team was oblivious to the Ultimate X pilot five feet above their heads.  
  
Bit dug his fingers into a crack and leaped to the corner, screwing the grate in on his way. He watched them eat and coughed quietly. "Ahem." Jamie turned around and shrieked, falling backwards.  
  
Leena stared. Bit was wedged in the corner of the ceiling, sitting quite comfortably. "What are you, Spiderman?!" Jamie shrieked. Bit shrugged, "No. I just got in from the venting. Burglary skills get rusty if you don't use them enough."  
  
Brad couldn't resist. "How'd you learn that? You can't even learn not to steal Leena's cookies." Bit said quietly, "I know a lot more than you think, Hunter. I have memories that would send the strongest man into a madness from which there would be no redemption." With those chilling words, he sprang like a leopard from the corner, pushed off the wall, and disappeared into the vents. The Blitz Team stared at each other. "What was that all about?"  
  
Bit sat quietly in his small room, waiting for his contact to reach him. The laptop in the corner bleeped, as he stood and flipped the screen up. "New job." The man hidden in shadows said roughly.  
  
Bit grinned. "Really?" His features hardened as he slipped into his business mode. "Spill." The man gulped and began talking in a fierce steady stream. "Target is coordinates 852W, 276S. Zoid is a Genosaurer, standard paint job and weaponry. Pay will be 50,000. Your next job will be a collaboration with X."  
  
The Blitz Team, watching through the camera hidden in the ceiling, was confused. What was this guy talking about? Bit sighed. "Genosaurer? You have got to start getting harder targets. This one seems like it'll be an hour and a half, tops."  
  
The man nodded and went off the air as Bit looked up at the camera. His face stretched in a vicious grin as he leaped upwards, hanging from the ceiling with his countenance filling the screen. "I know you heard that. But I would advise you not to meddle with my affairs."  
  
His hand came up and ripped the camera from the wires. Dimly Bit could hear Jamie's cursing from down the hall. He ran a hand through his hair and sent a message to Liger. Buddy? Keep the others from following me while I finish up this job, 'kay? The colors stilled and became orange; Liger was saying sure.  
  
Thanks partner. Bit slid out of his vest and began gathering his stuff together. He strapped the black pouch around his waist and leaped out the window, into the roiling wild night.  
  
TBC? 


	2. Painful Memories

Bit dodged to the left and cursed quietly; the stupid soldiers from the Falcon Syndicate were on his tail. The blonde man leaped to the side of a building and scuttled up the wall, ending up perched on the corner. He gritted his teeth together as blood from the three bullets embedded in his chest trickled down his arm.  
  
"Shit." Bit rolled to the side as a knife passed over his head and hit the ground running. He ran all the way back to the Blitz Team base.  
  
Leena sighed as she stared into the coffee mug. Brad was sitting ramrod straight in a chair, Jamie was doing something with a computer, and Doc was sleeping on the couch. Bit walked into the room.  
  
They looked up and gasped. Ragged holes were torn in his flesh, and blood flowed in a steady stream down his back. "Bit!" The green eyed pilot sighed. "Don't worry. It's only three bullets in my heart. I've had worse." They gaped as he pulled off his shirt, plopped down, and began to stitch up the holes.  
  
"Bit Cloud, I think its time you told us what was going on." Jamie choked out. Bit glanced up with a smirk on his face. "My story? Very well then, I'll tell it to you, if only to see how long you're kept awake screaming."  
  
Bit pulled his shirt back on, leaned against the wall and began.  
  
"I do not know who my parents were, where I was born, or why I got the alias I use today. Before this mission, I was simply known as Project Alpha. My younger brother Aethon, who was lucky enough to have a name, was Project Delta. My other younger brother, Project Gamma, also did not have a name. Project Beta was killed in testing. We were the products of an organization known as the Falcon Syndicate. They were a crime and smuggling ring, specializing in zoids and weapons.  
  
The three of us were made for one purpose only. And that was to kill. After the first slaying, there was no remorse. Emotions and shame were for weaklings. If you were strong like we were, you lived. If you were weak, like Beta, you died screaming in agony.  
  
As for the testing, I will do my best to describe it. Stage one, which began from birth and lasted until you were five, was simple. The complete destruction of all emotions was first. Later came weapons training, and at four, the first kill. After the first kill, you were tested to make sure you had no feelings of remorse. Beta did, and as such, was slowly tortured to death.  
  
Stage two lasted from five to eight, was also simple. Operations, genetic manipulation, and implants were the orders of the day. From five to seven, I lived in a drugged haze, knowing nothing, seeing nothing. But the way my life has gone, those were some of the happiest years of my life.  
  
Stage three was from eight to fourteen. That was physical and mental training, and slowly, slowly, you became one of them."  
  
Here Bit broke off and assessed the reactions of the others. Brad was staring in shock at the living hell Bit had gone through, while Leena, Jamie and Doc were faintly green. Bit sighed and continued.  
  
"The last and most horrific stage was stage five. This was called, Innocence Lost. Let's just say that we were violated quite often. At the end of this, I was fifteen, Aethon was thirteen, and Gamma was twelve. During a routine mission, Aethon was killed. He was killed because of me. Because I didn't reach him in time. My brother, in life and in death, in joy and horror, was dead because of me.  
  
I returned to the Falcon Syndicate and received my next mission. Which was to steal the Liger Zero. However, when I met the actual Blitz Team, I forfeited my life and my mission, all for the love of a Liger.  
  
When the Falcon Syndicate heard of my decision, I became an outcast. If anyone saw me, I was to be killed on sight. So I went to work for the resistance, known as the Gold Dragons. So I have lived this way for the last three years. The only one who knew of my past was Liger.  
  
So, my life is constantly in danger. I forfeited my life, my past, and my brother, all for the love of a Liger. And I see that you have doubts. Very well then."  
  
He stood up and looked at them with a bitter smile on his face. "You want proof?" He pulled out a loaded pistol and put it to his head. Leena surged forward and screamed as he pulled the trigger. The pistol fired and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.  
  
Bit stood there, his right eye blown to bits. Crimson blood trickled slowly down his cheek. The room was silent. He smiled as the skin pulled itself together and the eye reformed out of flesh. He blinked once and sat down.  
  
"Small injuries like that don't matter. I have to have at least fifteen bullets in my heart for me to die." Leena lurched forward, sobbing into his chest. Bit looked down and pulled her to him, whispering, "You didn't have to worry, Leena."  
  
He looked back up and said quietly, "You know that wave of killings that struck all the criminals in New Hope City last year?" They nodded. Bit grinned bitterly,  
  
"That was I."  
  
TBC? 


End file.
